SAMVEN’S RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY UNIT

CUSTOMERS PERCEPTION OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF THE GHANA IMMIGRATION SERVICE

(A CASE STUDY AT THE ENTRY POINT OF KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT)

BY

SAMUEL KWAKU OBENG

JUNE, 2008

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) generally is responsible for the control of

movement of people to and from the country. It is charged with the responsibility of

enforcement of all the enactments relating to the entry, residence and employment of all

foreigners in Ghana (ASIMA, 2002).

Its strategic objectives include the regulation of entry into Ghana in a manner that

facilitates travel, trade and business while ensuring the security of the borders.

It maximizes deterrence to unlawful migration by enforcing Immigration laws firmly and

fairly. The Service also ensures improvements to the processing of arriving and departing

passengers and also monitors, controls and reduces the fraudulent acquisition and use of

travel documents.

Aside preventing terrorist and other undesirable aliens from entering Ghana, the

Immigration Service collaborates with CEPS and other Security Agencies at the borders

to check drug trafficking, smuggling of precious minerals and other contrabands that

threatens the economy of Ghana and creates a bad image for Ghana in international

circles. The Immigration Service also plays a very crucial role in the promotion of

tourism, foreign investments and international trade in the country without overlooking

the issue of security. This role is concisely expressed in the Immigration Service motto

‘’Friendship With Vigilance’’. The Immigration Officer is trained to be courteous to

travelers and the public so as to attract genuine tourists to the country. The service also

recommends appropriate change in Immigration Laws and regulations in accordance with

changing circumstances so as to attract genuine tourists and investors into

Ghana(ASIMA, 2002).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Though the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) does a lot of security work for the nation,

the majority of the people in the country do not know its functions. This is because; they

cannot differentiate them from the CEPS. In addition to that, does the GIS do its work

effectively? This project therefore looked into the functions of the GIS and also educated

the public to be aware of their importance. It also looked at the organizational efficiency

of the GIS.

1.3 Aims and objectives of the study

The research work will be conducted with the following objectives.

• To investigate the functions of the Ghana Immigration Service

• To investigate the perception of the public to the effective work of the Ghana

Immigration Service

• To make an attempt to offer suggestion and recommendations based on the findings

of the research

1.4 Research hypothesis

The aim of this study is to examine the following hypothesis below:

Null hypothesis (H0): ‘the Ghana Immigration Service does not play a major role in the

security and economic development of Ghana’

Alternative hypothesis (H1): ‘the Ghana Immigration Service plays a major role in the

security and economic development of Ghana’

1.5 The significance of the study

• This study would be a useful tool in the hands of the Ministry of Interior and the

Ghanaian Economic Planners.

• In addition, it is envisaged that the result of this study would help to create an

awareness of the function of the Immigration Service to the people of Ghana and

the policy makers.

• This would enable the nation to adopt strategies, which will help to achieve the

objectives of the Ghana Immigration Service.

• Finally, the findings of the study would provide evidence for further research

work.

I.6 Delimitations of the study

The study will be confined to the Public Perception and Organizational Efficiency of the

Ghana Immigration Service. Only Accra metropolis will be studied.

1.7 Limitations of the study

The study will be limited to Accra metropolis. The study would have covered other areas

like Tema municipalities, et-cetera. But due to; less time, inadequate logistic support and

financial constrain, the study has been reduced.

1.8 Definition of terms

For the purpose of the study, certain words and terms will be used which may not be

familiar to readers. Such words and terms have been explained as follows:

Primary data: - This is the name given to data that were collected under the control and

supervision of the person or the organization making particular study.

Secondary data: - This is the name given to data that are being used for some purpose

other than that for which they were originally collected.

1.9 Organization of Study

The study will be divided into five chapters.

Chapter 1 consists of the introduction, statement of the problem, objective of study,

significance of the study, hypothesis, and limitation of the study. Chapter 2 reviews

existing literature regarding the importance of the Immigration Service. Chapter 3

consists of methodology. Chapter 4 consists of data presentation, analysis, and discussion

of the main findings. Chapter 5 concludes the study with summary, conclusion and

recommendations.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This section of the study reviews what others have written about the Customers

Perception of the Organizational Efficiency of the Ghana Immigration Service. The

section will primarily deal wit what other authors have done in regard to this subject

matter.

2.1 Definitions

2.1.1 Perception

Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the

recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through

the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the

environment that are critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of

the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment. Efron, R. (1968)

2.1.2 Organization

When two or more people get together and agree to coordinate their activities in order to

achieve their common goals, an organization has been born. There is really no doubt

about the present meaning of organization. Its purpose is to create an arrangement of

positions and responsibilities through and by means of which an enterprise can carry out

its work. An academic textbook definition of organization can be formulated as follows:

“a. the responsibilities by means of which the activities of the enterprise are dispersed

among the (managerial, supervisory, and specialist) personnel employed in its service;

and b. the formal interrelations established among the personnel by virtue of such

responsibilities.”

2.1.3 An organizational structure

It is a mostly hierarchical concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and

contribute to serve one common aim.

Organizations are a number of clustered entities. The structure of an organization is

usually set up in one of a variety of styles, dependent on their objectives and ambience.

The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it shall operate and

will perform.

2.1.4 Functional Structures of an organization

The functional structure groups employees together based upon the functions of specific

jobs within the organization. For example, a division of an internet service provider (ISP)

with a functional organizational structure might be as follows:

• Vice President

• Sales Department (sales function)

• Customer Service Department (customer service function)

• Engineering Department (engineering function)

• Accounting Department (accounting function)

• Administration Department (administration function)

2.1.5 Organizational Efficiency

An Organizational Efficiency Assessment (OEA) serves as a strategic diagnostic tool,

which provides an in-depth analysis of organizational structure, staffing levels, business

processes and resulting levels of efficiency and service. The study is an evaluation of

organizational effectiveness and efficiency through the examination of practices and

procedures, work assignments, workflow and workload balancing, interdepartmental

relationships and communications. Organizational Efficiency Optimization (OEO)

delivers an organization redesign, based on process efficiency and effectiveness criteria

incorporating the aspects of structure, responsibility, communication, skill and along with

a tailored evolution roadmap.

Public sector stakeholders - government executives, officials, and most importantly,

citizens - are demanding increased accountability for the public sector value (PSV) of

government programs and systems. Government organizations need to deliver

quantifiable measurements and clear performance results in order to better understand the

impact of the programs and systems on the people they serve. Enterprise performance

management is a strategic approach to improving public sector performance. By

deploying business intelligence (BI) solutions, you can use metrics, processes, and

systems to monitor and manage government and program performance.

2.1.6 The Importance of Organizational Efficiency

Corporate performance management improves the capability of a business. It provides

three important values to the business. They are information delivery, performance

oversight, and performance effectiveness. These values help to understand, manage and

improve the business. Corporate performance management system coordinates the

performance of managers, staff, customers and suppliers within an integrated

environment Riverside (2008).

The basic elements of corporate performance management are providing information and

strategy planning. CPM can provide the core decision makers direct access to required

information. With a clear understanding of the facts of the business, informed decisions

can be taken for boosting the performance. Performance oversight signifies an overall

view of the business details. CPM provides the required performance oversight to the

management which helps in optimizing the business. Performance effectiveness helps

business executives as well as decision makers to set clear goals and work towards

achieving them. CPM assures the necessary performance effectiveness Riverside (2008).

Corporate performance management system combines the management process in a

single, interactive and collaborative work space. Scorecards and reports can improve

finance, operations and workforce. Web based collaboration and distribution capabilities

improve the communication process. Corporate performance management system can

reduce planning, forecasting and reporting time through data capture and analysis. It

integrates business strategies, business measures and business actions Riverside (2008).

Corporate performance management provides accurate financial information about the

day-to-day activities of people, equipment and process. It can develop comprehensive

plans and customized reports. It helps the organization to maintain profitable inbound and

outbound relationship with the customers. CPM can reduce problems associated with

reporting financial and operational data Riverside (2008).

Corporate performance management finds use in the pharmaceutical and health science

sectors. It can be used for clinical performance management and product demand

forecasting. In the financial sector, CPM is applied in mortgage banking, incurrence

claims and risk reporting. Corporate performance management is important in

manufacturing areas. It is important in supply chain planning and manufacturing

performance management. CPM application is important in aerospace and defense

management. Other important CPM areas are retail performance management, vendor

management, police performance management and the public sector Riverside (2008).

2.1.7 Defining Customer Satisfaction and Perception

Customer satisfaction is a key business performance indicator. When customers purchase

your offering, they also make an implicit decision to interact with your personnel,

account managers, accounts receivable staff, customer service staff and many more. The

measurement of customer satisfaction is therefore an aggregate of how multiple groups

within each customer company believes you have performed at the touch-points that are

relevant to each of them. Every business must objectively judge how well it is meeting

customer’s expectations during every interaction with the customer. While a customer

may be viewed as a single entity by your finance department, a customer is in reality a

team of designated individuals, each of which has different types of interactions with

different individuals within your company. The complete set of customer touch points

must be optimized for the customer to conclude that it is having a positive experience

with your company. Whether your company offers a technology solution or a service that

depends upon a technology infrastructure, many of the following customer touch-points

will prove to be relevant.

2.2.0 Theoretical Frame Work

According to Kimchi (2003), the consciously perceived visual world is very different

from the raw visual information or retinal mosaic of intensities and colors that arises from

external objects. From the chaotic juxtaposition of different colors and shapes that

stimulate the individual retinal receptors, an object is seen as detached and separable

from adjacent objects and surfaces. This segmentation occurs despite the fact that parts of

a single object may be spatially or temporally discontinuous, have different colors, or

even transect several different depth planes. In addition, because most surfaces are

opaque, portions of objects are routinely hidden from view and, as one moves around,

surfaces continually undergo occlusion and fragmentation. As is apparent from this

description, the objects of phenomenal perception are not given in any direct way in the

retinal image. Some internal processes of organization must clearly be responsible, then,

for producing a single, coherent percept. Exactly what these processes are remains poorly

understood despite the roughly 100 years since the Gestalt psychologists first articulated

the principles of perceptual organization (Kimchi, 2003). Although the Gestalt work on

perceptual organization has been widely accepted as identifying crucial phenomena of

perception, there has been, until the last decade or so, relatively little theoretical and

empirical emphasis on perceptual organization, with a few exceptions. And, to the extent

that progress has been made, there still remain many open questions.

The first concerns the multiplicity of processes involved in deriving structure from a

visual image. There is general consensus now that perceptual organization is not a

monolithic entity but, rather, that several different processes exist. What these processes

are and how they differ from one another in terms of their time course, attentional

demands, and contribution to the ultimate goal of perceptual organization remains to be

specified. A second question concerns the relationship between the various processes of

perceptual organization and object recognition, and a final question relates to the brain

systems that underlie these various perceptual organization processes(Kimchi, 2003).

2.2.1 Perceptual Organization:

The Gestalt psychologists suggested that perceptual organization is achieved by grouping

elements together by virtue of certain properties that are present in the image. In the

seminal work of Wertheimer (1923/1950) and in the follow-up by Koehler (1928), the

different heuristics underlying grouping have been enumerated, and they are now

commonly listed in textbooks on perception. These heuristics include grouping by

proximity, by closure, by similarity, by good continuation, and by common fate.

Recently, Palmer (2001; Palmer & Rock, 1994) added two more heuristics: grouping by

common region and grouping by connectedness. Despite the cataloguing and the

widespread acceptance of these different grouping principles, many, although not all,

theories of visual perception have treated perceptual organization as a unitary

phenomenon that operates at a single, early, preattentive stage, in a bottom-up fashion, to

create units which then serve as candidate objects for later and more elaborated

processing, including object recognition and identification (Marr, 1982; Neisser, 1967)

2.2.2 Neural Mechanisms Underlying Perceptual Organization

In addition to trying to understand the functional processes involved in perceptual

organization, there is also much work to be done to understand how these principles are

neurally instantiated and what brain mechanisms might be involved. Considerable

neurophysiological advances have revealed much about the specificities of neuronal

responses in visual cortex including their orientation selectivity, ocular dominance,

wavelength, and directional selectivity. However, it is not clear how the fragments

represented by these local analyzers are assembled to provide a unified percept.

It is worth noting that the Gestaltists did attempt to address the issue of neural

implementation and attributed the Gestalt processes to isomorphic brain processes. For

example, Kohler (1920/1950) conjectured that electromagnetic fields were the substrate

of the brain’s operation of a physical gestalt system. Although innovative in its time, this

view was incorrect and, in fact, was one of the factors that contributed to the ultimate

demise of the Gestalt perspective. Recently, many studies involving single neuron

recording in nonhuman primates as well as functional imaging in normal humans have

been conducted to explore questions of perceptual organization. For example, there is a

host of research on the perception of illusory contours (e.g., ffytche & Zeki, 1996;

Mendola, Dale, Fischl, Liu, & Tootell, 1999; von der Heydt & Peterhans, 1989; von der

Heydt, Peterhans, & Baumgartner, 1984) and the relationship of local fragments to a

larger form (e.g., Georgopoulos et al., 2001; Hasson, Hendler, Ben Bashat, & Malach,

2001; Op de Beeck, Beatse, Wagemans, Sunaert, & Van Hecke, 2000) as well as several

studies on the neural systems involved specifically in global–local form processing (Fink

et al., 1996, 1997; Sasaki et al., 2001). Despite this flurry of recent activity, there remains

much to be done to understand the mechanisms whereby light intensities are translated

into meaningful objects by the brain.

One possible approach to understanding both the psychological and neural mechanisms

involved in perceptual organization, and the one adopted here, is to study the

performance of individuals who are impaired at the processes of perceptual organization

following brain damage. The logic of this neuropsychological approach is equivalent to

backward engineering: As researchers, if we can understand the operation of the system

once it is unraveled, we might obtain insights into how it functions under normal

circumstances (Coltheart, 2002). The patients have a neuropsychological impairment,

referred to as visual object agnosia, in which they are unable to recognize even familiar

common objects presented to them in the visual modality. This object recognition deficit

cannot be attributed to a problem in labeling the stimulus per se nor to a loss of

semantics; presented with the same object in a different modality, either haptically or

auditorily, they have no problem in naming it or providing detailed and rich descriptions

of it. Visual agnosia refers to a specific failure to access the meaning of objects from the

visual modality (Farah, 1990; Humphreys & Riddoch, 2001; Ratcliff & Newcombe,

1982).

Visual agnosia covers a wide spectrum of deficits, including, at one end, patients who are

unable to recover even primitive features from a display (e.g., patients who fail to search

in parallel for a vertical line among horizontal lines) and, at the other end, patients who

appear able to extract a reasonably intact percept but subsequently fail to assign meaning

to it (Farah, 1990; Humphreys & Riddoch, 2001). The patients we have chosen to study

fall midway between these two extremes: Their agnosia does not arise from impaired

low-level vision nor from the inability to assign meaning to relatively intact visual

representations, but rather from problems in organizational processes. The term applied

to this deficit in intermediate vision is integrative agnosia and was coined by Riddoch

and Humphreys (1987) on the basis of their studies with a patient called H.J.A. H.J.A.

was impaired at search tasks that require the binding of visual elements in a spatially

parallel manner across a field containing multiple stimuli; for example, he was

disproportionately slowed, relative to control participants, in detecting the presence of an

inverted T among upright Ts. In contrast, his search is efficient and rapid for targets that

do not require a combination of elements such as a target diagonal among multiple

verticals (Humphreys, 1999; Humphreys & Riddoch, 1987; Humphreys et al., 1994;

Humphreys, Riddoch, Quinlan, Price, & Donnelly, 1992). When the demands for

integration are low, H.J.A. and other integrative agnosic patients perform significantly

above chance levels: They can make same–different judgments accurately on two stimuli

that share area and brightness but not shape (aspect ratio changes from square to

rectangle; Efron, 1968).

In addition to the impaired ability to integrate all aspects of the display into a whole,

several other characteristics now serve as the core features of integrative agnosia

(Behrmann, in press; Behrmann & Kimchi, in press; Humphreys & Riddoch, 2001). For

example, the patients are more impaired at identifying items that overlap one another

compared with the same items presented in isolation. It is interesting and also

counterintuitive that, in some patients, the presence of local information may even reduce

the efficiency of visual recognition; in contrast with normal perceivers, both patients

H.J.A. (Lawson & Humphreys, 1999; Riddoch & Humphreys, 1987) and S.M. (Butter &

Trobe, 1994) identified silhouettes better than line drawings whose internal details

apparently led to incorrect segmentation. Patients with integrative agnosia also fail to

identify shapes by subjective contours and do not appreciate occlusion normally. Another

key feature of the disorder is the failure to segregate figures from ground effectively; for

example, patient F.G.P. was unable to detect a simple shape against a pattern background

(Kartsounis & Warrington, 1991).

Finally, integrative agnosic patients are impaired at grouping elements of a display. A

clear example comes from patient N.M., who was impaired at detecting the presence of a

target letter that was formed by grouping local elements that differed from the

background element by line orientation (texture), color, luminance, or motion (Ricci,

Vaishnavi, & Chatterjee, 1999; see also, Kartsounis & Warrington, 1991; Marstrand,

Gerlach, Udesen, & Gade, 2000). Given the paucity of research on integrative agnosia, a

definitive definition is not yet established, but the critical component is a failure in

organizational processes in tandem with a deficit in object recognition. Patients with

integrative agnosia are also obviously impaired at object recognition: As is evident from

their responses to black and white line drawings the patients we studied are clearly able

to extract some visual information from the display but apparently are unable to integrate

all aspects into a meaningful whole. The problem applies equally to the recognition of

two- and three-dimensional stimuli and to black and white and chromatic displays

although, in some cases, the presence of depth, color, and surface cues may be of some

assistance to the patients in segmenting the display (Chainay & Humphreys, 2001; Farah,

1990; Humphrey, Goodale, Jakobson, & Servos, 1994; Jankowiak, Kinsbourne, Shalev,

& Bachman, 1992). At the outset, the 2 patients were differentially impaired in their

object recognition ability, and we exploited this fact in investigating the nature of the

grouping impairment and the way in which various grouping processes might

differentially contribute to object recognition.

2.2.3 Visual Agnosia and Perceptual Organization

Two adult male patients, S.M. and R.N., both of whom are right-handed and English

speaking, consented to participate. Both had been diagnosed as having visual agnosia and

had participated in several previous studies (Behrmann, in press; Behrmann & Kimchi, in

press; Gauthier, Behrmann, & Tarr, 1999; Marotta, Behrmann, & Genovese, 2001;

Marotta, McKeeff, & Behrmann, 2002). Because extensive information is available about

them in these other publications, we present only a short review of their biographical and

medical histories. S.M. is a young man with visual acuity corrected to 20/20. He

sustained a closed head injury in a motor vehicle accident in 1994 at the age of 18, and

the experiments reported here were conducted in 1998 and 1999. Despite extensive

injuries, he recovered extremely well and the only residual deficit is the visual agnosia.

Note that although S.M. is right-handed, he has some weakness on the right side as his

arm was badly damaged in the accident, and so he uses his left hand intermittently (and

responds in these experiments with his left hand). At the time of the accident, S.M. was

about to begin college. After several years of rehabilitation, he has returned to his studies

(although he requires considerable assistance with the visual material) and works in his

family’s photographic store. R.N. experienced a myocardial infarction in 1999 at the age

of 39, and the experiments reported here were started 6 months thereafter. His visual

acuity is 20/20. He worked in his own construction business at the time of the infarction

and is not employed at present. R.N. does not have any focal lesion on his MRI scan; the

absence of a circumscribed lesion from a patient who has sustained brain damage

following a myocardial infarction during bypass surgery is not uncommon.1 Because the

neuropil is generally preserved after such an incident even if the neurons themselves are

affected, a circumscribed lesion may not be detectable even with high-resolution

imaging. Both patients performed normally on those subtests of the Birmingham Object

Recognition Battery (BORB; Riddoch & Humphreys, 1993) that tap low-level or early

visual processes, including judging line length, orientation, size, and gap position.

Both patients also had normal color vision. That both patients could derive considerable

visual information is further supported by their performance on a copying task; both

patients produced reasonably good copies of a target object or a scene, although they did

so slowly relative to normal participants and in a labored and segmental fashion. Both

patients also performed within normal limits on more complex visual tasks, such as

matching objects on the basis of minimal features or when one object was foreshortened.

It is important to note, however, that both patients were impaired on the BORB subtests

that evaluate discrimination of overlapping shapes, and both performed in the impaired

range on the object decision subtests (task: Is this a real object or not?), as is usually the

case with patients with integrative agnosia. In contrast with some integrative agnosic

patients (Butter & Trobe, 1994; Lawson & Humphreys, 1999; Riddoch & Humphreys,

1987), neither S.M. nor R.N. performed better with silhouettes than with line drawings.

Both patients read accurately but slowly as reflected in their response times to read-aloud

words of different lengths presented individually on the computer screen. Whereas

normal readers show minimal, if any, effect of word length on reading time within this

range (3 to 8 letters in length), both patients had increased slopes relative to control

participants. Whereas S.M. read 117/120 words correctly with a slope of 104 ms per

additional letter, R.N. read 95/120 words correctly with a 241-ms slope (Mycroft,

Behrmann, & Kay, 2002). Both patients were also significantly impaired at face

recognition (see Gauthier et al., 1999; Marotta et al., 2002).

2.4 The need for Immigration Service in Ghana

The pace of globalization seems to have picked up in recent decades, thanks to trade and

capital flows. Globalization is here to stay: The reality is that we already live in a global

economy where flows of trade, capital and knowledge across national borders are not

only large, but also are increasing every year. In this globalizing, and rapidly changing

world economy therefore, trade facilitation among regional blocs takes on special

significance. Trade facilitation will improve the regions trade performance significantly

and thereby spur the growth of productivity and incomes. It is described as the

simplification, harmonization, automation and speeding up of the international flow of

people and goods across borders. It has become a topical and significant issue for

developing countries like Ghana because it is acknowledged that there is a strong link

between increased trade, economic growth and poverty reduction. The availability of

modern technology to significantly improve the management of cross border trade and

distribution of goods have combined to create a strong interest in trade facilitation. It has

also been noted that customs and other border related regulatory formalities are

increasingly considered a more significant barrier than tariff rates and that border

management improvement is critical to achieving sustained trade growth and global

security issues.

2.4 The reason why Ghana should keep her borders secure

The economic integrative imperatives of globalization, trade liberalization and facilitation

call for borders to become increasingly porous. A central paradox of this phenomenon is

that on the one hand, states must remain open to the movement of people, goods and

services if they want to develop. On the other hand, there must be credible controls at the

borders to prevent a whole range of threats to national security.

Why should Ghana keep her borders secure? And why should border patrols and controls

become relevant when globalization delimits territorial barriers and everybody is talking

of facilitation of trade. Ghana needs to secure its borders against external threats and to

protect it sovereignty. Our neighbors may not necessarily pose a threat in the sense of

overt aggression but due to the open nature of the borders and the conflict in the Sub-

region individuals and groups need to be contained .A case in point is the recent arrival of

Sudanese refugees into Ghana almost unnoticed. The new thinking is that even if the

borders are essential for state sovereignty, they should not inhibit the movement of

people and trade across regions. Nonetheless in a free and open society citizens need to

have confidence in the security of the borders. There is a need to rethink and

reconceptualise our borders in a progressive manner to minimize obstacles to legitimate

movement and maintain at the same time the integrity of the borders.

2.5 Security Situation in Ghana

While appreciating the dynamics of the paradigm shift, Ghana finds itself under peculiar

circumanstances due to its geographical location. This country finds itself in a sub region

that has been in turmoil for close to two decades and in the past two years its immediate

neighbors to the east and west have been experiencing political turmoil which has spilt

over to Ghana .This poses challenges to Ghana, and especially frontline organizations,

such as the Ghana Immigration Service tasked with the primary jurisdiction over laws

that govern entry and exit to and from Ghana.

Concomitant to our position in a turbulent sub region which could create rebel and

refugee movement, is that such conflicts could and have generated transnational

organized crime involving trafficking of small arms and light weapons, illicit trafficking

of drugs, human trafficking, armed robbery, money laundering, motor vehicle theft,

advanced fee fraud(419),cattle theft, passport trafficking and smuggling among others.

Taking cognizance of the above underscore the need for a much more comprehensive and

coordinated action. There is a need to adopt comprehensive and cooperative approach to

border management to deal with the pressures of trade facilitation, integration and greater

globalization. It is essential that a balance is struck between enhanced security and

facilitation of International trade, because it is no longer an option but the only way

forward.

2.6 Achievements of the Ghana Immigration Service

Under the Gateway project Ghana Immigration Service is expected to positively respond

to government’s policy on investment and trade liberalization and facilitation by

modernizing its activities to benchmark international standards. In fulfillment of this, the

Service has undertaken the following measures:

� Automation of Kotoka International Airport and Aflao; the objective is to reduce

passenger-processing time, establish a more efficient data collection, storage and retrieval

system and improve security. Plans are far advanced for similar installations to be done at

Paga and Elubo.

� Construction of Data Centre: A new Data Centre to house the service’s Management

Information System (MIS) has been constructed. The objective is to collate and manage

all relevant data for use by the service and other organizations. The equipment is

currently being installed and our operations and processing at the Immigration

headquarters will soon be computerized. � Standard Operating Procedures: Standard

Operating Procedures (SOPs) which benchmarks our operational guidelines has also been

developed.

� Strategic Plan: A strategy document which spells out our vision, mission and strategic

objectives is also currently pending management’s review.

� Visa On Arrival Policy: The Ghana Immigration Service has implemented the visa-on-

arrival policy.

2.7 Challenges facing the Ghana Immigration Service

Recent events have seen comments from policy makers and the general public suggesting

that our borders are unprotected. Such comments however fail to acknowledge the

immense challenges the service faces in facilitation and control. Examining critically the

capacity of the Ghana Immigration Service to deliver in the form of personnel,

technology and policy capability leaves much room for improvement despite

considerable gains.

• The staff strength of the GIS is inadequate to man all approved and unapproved

routes.

• Basic technology and equipments to improve patrols and policing are almost non-

existent. Technology is needed to enhance the ability of officers to detect in a more

predictable way, increase deterrence and protect border integrity.

• Processing a traveller is now basically labour intensive with little technological

underpinning. This causes unintended delays at the border posts, apart from KIA

and Aflao aforementioned.

• Data use and data sharing among agencies at the borders should be encouraged.

• A lot of time is taken to process alert records which are done manually at most of

our border controls.

• The porous nature of our borders contributes to an ineffective manning of our

borders.

• The infrastructure especially buildings at most of our border posts are not

functionally designed.

• There are excessive documentation requirements. In the case of Immigration, due to

a large number of our traders being illiterate they are unable to complete

immigration forms in a timely manner.

• Lack of communication, cooperation and partnership at the local and regional level

of border agencies, which thwarts efforts to deal effectively with increased trade

flows.

• ECOWAS citizens granted 90days overstay their permits and fail to renew visas.

• Use of unapproved routes by nationals of member states in most cases without any

travel documents.

• Use of identity cards by some ECOWAS citizens especially those from UEMOA

countries instead of passports.

• The increase in the movement of persons across Ghana’s borders has brought about

an increase in cross border crimes.

• Problems of transhumance caused by marauding alien herdsmen who enter the

country through unapproved routes and engage in negative activities.

• Exporters and importers complain about harassment and extortions from our border

personnel along the borders.

• Lack of infrastructure in terms of automation, provision of equipment, use of

scanners, passport readers etc by the border agencies.

• There is poor security at some of the borders, leading to traders sometimes losing

their wares.

• Lack of awareness of ECOWAS citizens about the protocols and their rights and

responsibilities.

• Border residents who facilitate irregular migration across the borders for economic

gains.

• Use of fraudulent documents.

• Lack of evaluation and monitoring mechanism for the implementation of well

meaning directives, Protocols and rules.

It is worthy mention that if we evaluate the current performance of ECOWAS member

states in the area of free movement of persons one will notice that some real

achievements such as the abolition of visa requirements and the introduction of travel

certificates have been made. It is important however to acknowledge that much remains

to be done, especially in the area of removal of numerous non-tariff barriers. Such

barriers have succeeded only in creating insecurity and affect the facilitation of trade and

leads to conflicts and resentment. In the light of the sketched operational milieu of the

Ghana Immigration Service, comprehensive and integrated planning and action is needed

as a prerequisite for the effective and efficient management of our borders to facilitate

trade process.

2.8 Modern Border Management System

How then can facilitation of trade be reconciled with the need to ensure security in the

movement of people, goods and services? Some people are of the view that, to see a

contradiction between control and facilitation is based on a false dichotomy because they

support each other.

The more effective controls are the more facilitation can be offered in “no-risk” areas. It

is in this light that the World Customs Organization has introduced a new instrument

“The framework of standards to secure and facilitate global trade”, its implementation

would however be crucial. The balancing of facilitation and control is the basic

requirement for a border management system. This in the past had taken place at the

physical point of entry but it is being extended and relocated to points of embarkation

known as advanced passenger processing.

To address the challenges therefore it would be necessary to identify what border

management tries to achieve in most jurisdictions. The border management system is the

key control mechanism for overall migration management. Effective border management

system will recognize that facilitation and control are two equally important objectives

that must be addressed at the same time.

The two major objectives for an effective border system is to facilitate bonafide

travellers, providing a welcoming and efficient gateway to Ghana and provide a barrier

and disincentive to entry for those seeking to circumvent migration laws. With these

objectives Ghana could maximize the benefits of managed temporary and permanent

migration, while simultaneously protecting Ghana from the unauthorized entry of those

considered not to be of benefit under visa policy rules or whose entry would not be in the

national interest. The design therefore of border management systems should take into

consideration certain factors, such as:

• The physical characteristics of the border.

• The border permeability

• The relationship with immediate state neighbours

• The commitment and capacity of neighbouring states to control their own borders

and manage irregular migration

• Whether interception of undocumented travelers is planned and feasible at points of

entry

• How much checking on identity and intentions is done at the border or at points

remote from the border?

• Where the visa decision is made.

• The volume and variability of volume of passengers at the borders

• Whether there is sufficient flow of information between the various authorities

involved in border management.

The above factors immediately provide a large range of factors and options to be

addressed to enable Ghana move toward improving trade facilitation.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the research design, the population and sample. It also discusses

the instruments used in the data collection, the procedure for data collection and the

method for data analysis.

3.2 Profile of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS)

A British Colonial called K.A. Price started the Ghana Immigration Service.

In the early 1940s, Ghana Immigration Service was found necessary to change the parent

unit and brought under the Police C.I.D. It was at this point that the functions of passport

control were added to its responsibilities and head of the unit was called Headquarters

Immigration Officer. It was headed by Neville Hill, a commissioner of Police. At this

point, the unit was responsible for the commuting between the various colonies.

The number of expatriates was not many and as such regulated the influx of non-

Africans. Given the political status of the country and the economic circumstances the

number of persons handled was minimal.

The rapid expansion in the economy at the attainment of independence in 1957, coupled

with Ghana’s role as a peace settler in African Liberation struggle led to the country

being swamped with foreign businesspersons, African aliens in search of a greater

pastures, and tourists. Thus to control the influx, a cabinet decision in 1960 transferred

the Immigration function to the Ministry of Interior as a separate Department, whiles the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the issuing of passports. In the course of time, it

became abundantly clear that the Immigration function had assume a specialized nature

that could not achieve its objectives if the Institution continues to be bonded in the Civil

Services machinery, which is not designed to take care of the dynamics of the issue of

security. The indicators were that, the attraction for Ghana was bound to grow as the

economy expanded on account of the favourable investment climate introduced under the

Economic Recovery Programme (ERP).

As a result, the PNDC in December 1989 approved the conversion of the Department into

a para-military Service with a Board and a Director to head the day to day administration

of service.

3.3 The research design

The research design used is survey design. The survey design involves the collection and

analysis of data, and finding out the answers concerning the current status of the subject.

This comprises observation of facts, formulation of hypothesis, collection and

classification of data, interpretation of data, formulation of theories, application of facts

and predictions. Since human behaviour is difficult and can not be predicted, it makes the

results of the research at times not to be applicable to the population.

3.4 Population

The target population used is Accra Metropolis, specifically the travelers and workers at

the Kotoka International Airport.

3.5 Sample and Sampling Technique

The convenient sampling procedure was used to select thirty (30) people at the entry

point of the Kotoka International Airport for examination.

3.6 Instrument

Questionnaire is the major instrument that was used to collect the data. The questionnaire

was used in order to get standard form of answers or response.

3.7 Data Collection Procedure

Thirty questionnaires were used, one for each person or respondent. The questions were

read for them to answer. This is because, not all the respondents were literates. Some

were also not having time to stop and read before answering the questions. The

respondents were followed whiles moving in order to get them answer the questions.

Seventeen (10) questions will be asked in all.

3.8 Data analysis

Frequencies, percentages, bar graphs and non-parametric test (chi-square test) were used

to analyze the data. SPSS software and Microsoft Excel Software were used for all the

analysis.